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"I remember staggering out of the karaoke bar in what can only be described as an intoxicated state," Mr Sauerwald said.

"I couldn't walk straight, but how could I be drunk? … I didn't even have one glass."

He said the group helped hold him up as he staggered across the road and checked him into a nearby hotel.

"The absolute last thing I recall is being helped up the stairs," he said.

"I do not remember reaching my room, nor do I remember being put on the bed."

He woke at 9.30am the next day and soon began to suspect he had been drugged.

"There was no one in the room except me and the bed had not been slept in," he said.

"I started to become more than a little worried.

"I checked my wallet and the first thing I noticed was my credit card was upside down."

Still feeling under the weather, he staggered to the lobby to see the thieves leaving but wasn't able to follow them.

He managed to make it back to Manila and checked his bank account.

"My account showed that six consecutive withdrawals were made from my credit card," he said.

"They left me with just $1.23 on my credit card."

Also missing was much of the cash from his wallet and his Sony camera.

At the time he was one month into a three-month trip through Asia, which was cut short after the theft.

After returning to Australia, Mr Sauerwald said Manila police told him they were still investigating the incident and were sifting through CCTV footage from the ATM machines used.

"My hopes for the outcome (of this story) is that they'll catch them," he said.

"I don't give a damn about the money because thankfully NAB has paid back every cent that I lost (on the credit card)."

A police report into the incident said Mr Sauerwald may have fallen victim to the "dreaded Ativan Gang", which preys upon solo tourists by gaining their trust and lacing their drink with the sedative Ativan.

The report said the matter had been referred to the Angelos City Police Station for investigation.